About Us

The Chorleywood Residents Association (Hertfordshire, UK) is a non-party political association that is passionate about maintaining the special character of Chorleywood.

The work of the Association is championed by the Executive Committee, a dedicated enthusiastic body of volunteers, committed to representing the members of the Association and campaigning on their behalf.

The Executive Committee is supported in this work by the Area Representatives and others who undertake the essential tasks including delivering the twice yearly newsletter and collecting subscriptions.

We hope that this website will be a focal point for the residents of Chorleywood and through the contributions to us from everyone (whether members or not of the Association) we can become a valuable source of information for the local community.

Fire in flats above shops in New Parade - 28th July 2012

For many residents in Chorleywood West we had an early wake up call on Saturday morning (the morning after the Olympic Opening Ceremony) with the sound of emergency service sirens serenading us to wake up at around 8am.

A Fire had broken out in Flat 4 above Morgans Deli and S&S Newsagents, and by the time the fire service were alerted and had arrived the fire had already taken hold throughout both floors of the flat and was also into the roof space.

A member of the Residents Association committee was on the scene (having been woken up) and tweeted the following:

Two Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue pumps were already on the scene by this stage, from Rickmansworth and Garston, and the following 5 minute video shows the work of the two pump crews as they continue in their response to the incident.

ChorleywoodResidents Video

Shortly afterwards, the local police were arriving on the scene to assist with redirecting traffic

8.10am @chorleywoodres Shire Lane, Lower Road and New Parade roads closed. Met Line still running but a lot of smoke blowing across line and Chorleywood. #wd3

The incident continued to develop and within 30 mins there were 6 pumps on the scene and shortly before 9am a Fire service Crane and Platform was deployed to assist with the assessment and dousing of the roof.

8.57am @chorleywoodres Very sad event for the residents affected in New Parade, Chorleywood. Fire service now using crane to douse roof. #wd3 http://pic.twitter.com/KhvjEsDn

In the video below you can see the crane being prepared for use and stabilised

ChorleywoodResidents Video

And then an initial move to collect equipment

ChorleywoodResidents Video

Before it heads up to the roof to assess the situation and douse the roof from above

ChorleywoodResidents Video

The road closures continued for several hours whilst the Fire service continued their response.

At 10.10am, a member of Red Watch Watford tweeted the following and the link to the picture clearly shows the damage to the roof.

Red Watch Watford @redsfirewatford We did well to stop that spreading too far. Impressive work by all crews. Sweaty and filthy now - handing over to blues http://pic.twitter.com/UrARJziZ

The local fire crew from Rickmansworth attended the scene on Saturday evening and tweeted an update.

RickmansworthFire ‏@A07Fire Green Watch will be carrying out a re-inspection in Chorleywood this evening following this mornings serious property fire. We will also be giving fire safety advice and offering free home safety checks to local residents - Test your smoke alarms

The Watford Fire Commander also added:

Jon Horastead ‏@WatFireCom Flat fire in Chorleywood this morning. No smoke detectors, lucky they were not asleep when fire started. Get them, fit them, check them!

The ‏@HFRSphotography Herts Fire and Rescue Service Photogrpahy twitter account has been tweeting more photos of the Flat Fire on Sunday which further demonstrates the power and impact of this incident.

The Fire and Rescue teams have been back in Chorleywood on Sunday offering advice to Residents on fire safety. I'm sure they would rather prevent a fire rather than have to attend a Fire Incident where lives are put at risk.